This invention relates to a brake device for damping a translatory motion typically initiated by a spring. Such brake devices are used in motor vehicles, for example, to damp the pivoting motion of ashtrays or the flaps of receptacle compartments in the dashboard.
Such brake or damping devices are described in EP 0 538 605 A1 and usually consist of a casing that is filled with a viscous fluid and in which is supported a friction disk that is connected by means of a shaft to a drive element. The drive element usually consists of a pinion which interacts with a rack or--in the case of an ashtray--with a gearwheel segment. Due to the rolling of the pinion on the gearwheel segment, which is fastened to an outer wall of the ashtray, the friction disk is caused to rotate in the casing that is filled, for example, with a silicone oil. The periphery of the friction disk is typically provided with radially extending notches or recesses which further increase the frictional resistance of the friction disk with the silicone oil. The pivoting motion of the ashtray or flap is thus damped in each pivoting direction by this element.
However, because of the complicated embedding of the friction disk in silicone oil, high costs are associated with the manufacture of this brake device and consequently many automobile manufacturers have heretofore declined to use it even though it provides additional operating comfort.
An object of the invention, therefore, is to design the previously mentioned brake device in such a way that its manufacture is substantially cheaper so that it will be economically justifiable to use it in a larger number of automobiles.